It seems more and more people do, as the eating local trend is no longer just food for thought.

"More and more people are coming in wanting local products," says Angie Quaale, owner of Well Seasoned, a gourmet food store in Langley.

For Quaale, the switch to more local foods was the result of her previous 15-year career in the food sales industry.

"I really saw what goes into our food and saw the crap we eat," says Quaale. "After a while, it was just gross. I needed a change, a better way."

While my household is still a few kilometres off of the popular 100-Mile Diet plan -- I long for green salads and oranges like some people crave chocolate -- I can safely say a lot of our food is from B.C., with a great deal of that coming from the Fraser Valley.

But being a locavore -- yes, that is a term -- even achieving a 60-per-cent target isn't always easy. In many cases, it means visiting three different places for your free-range chicken, organic kale and locally-produced cheese. However, there are upsides to this more labour-intensive search for sustenance.

Shopping at smaller stores, farmers' markets or local farms makes for a much more social experience.

"We encourage people to have relationships with the people they get their food from," says Quaale.

Other locavore benefits include helping to reduce greenhouse gases and, through product demand, the preservation of the farmer and farmland.

"I think a lot of people don't understand what goes on in B.C. in agriculture," says Bonita Magee, project manager FarmFolk/CityFolk and Get Local. "Farmers are aging and not being replaced. In five years' time, the majority will be ready for retirement and their kids are not following in their footsteps.

"What we need to do as citizens of the province is to buy B.C. products."

Aurora Bistro chef Jeff Van Geest simply had a delicious reason to start to work with locally produced foods.

"I started doing this for more freshness and quality of ingredients," says Van Geest, who estimates that more than 50 per cent of his menu is local. "As I met farmers and different suppliers, I learned a lot more about the importance of shopping local. Then, as I got more and more into it, it became something I strongly believe in."

Van Geest certainly isn't alone when it comes to the local menu movement.

Barbara-Jo McIntosh of Barbara-Jo's Books for Cooks says the East Vancouver Cultural Centre, of which she is a board member, is planning a local and organic-based cafe for the Cultch's new expansion.

"These are things that no one thought about a few years ago," says McIntosh. "Now we are so fortunate here. We have a lot of restaurants using local food."

So how can you make the switch from products shipped halfway around the globe to foods from a few kilometres away?

"The first thing you should do is check out a farmers' market," says Van Geest. "Be realistic, start out small, then just improve upon things. As you make changes, you'll see you can do it."

Van Geest also suggests we look to the past to help feed us in the future.

"Preserve stuff, can stuff" says Van Geest. "It sounds like a big deal, but people did it. Our mothers and grandmothers did it. There is a reward at the end of it all."

Another great reward is to actually produce your own produce.

"It's important just getting people into the idea that you're not totally dependent on stores," says McIntosh.

"It's a lot to do with improvising," says McIntosh. "Yes recipe books are wonderful. That's what we do here, but I recommend highly that you take a recipe and improvise. You learn a lot about cooking and food that way."

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